Solution-Focused Vs. Problem-Focused

Focusing on problems is a much easier thing to do. It's like being in a room and only seeing everything that's the color brown - a chair, a couch, the carpet, the wall color... brown is all you see. But then every once in awhile, we see a different color and think, "hmm, that's different. Why haven't I noticed red or blue or yellow in the room before?"

For me, this is focusing on not having enough money, not doing well at work, not doing well at school, not being home enough, not being a good wife... negative after negative after negative. I will say that it is easier to only see the problems when most people give up on you and you become the problem because you won't do anything to help yourself.

But last night, as I was feeling drunk and contemplating about getting drunk, Fugazi became my other color in the room. It's not that I don't love my cats but sometimes I forget how much they love me and then, suddenly, there weren't any more problems but only the solution to stay home and play with him. The solution to write down how I felt and the solution to stay sober even if only for that night. It was a positive moment for a person with very few positive moments and the only problem is is that I'm only ever looking at problems rather than solutions. I'm only ever seeing one color and ignoring the rest. I need to see more colors and more solutions. Not everything is the end of the world and I need to stop making it seem that way... Fugazi certainly isn't worried about my mistakes, he just wants my love 😊 and to pet him, of course...